Cambodia, Thailand sign deal on QR code-based payment

The National Bank of Cambodia (NBC) and the Bank of Thailand (BOT) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on cooperation in QR-code based payment scheme and financial innovation on February 3.

Illustrative image (Source: internet)

The signing ceremony took place at an annual bilateral meeting in Phnom Penh with the attendance of NBC Governor Chea Chanto and his BoT counterpart Veerathai Santiprabhob, according to the NBC’s statement.

“The MoU aims to support the collaboration on developing interoperability of standard QR code for efficient and secured domestic and cross-border payment transactions as well as to promote usage of local currencies and financial innovation in both countries," the statement said.

The two neighbouring countries' central banks have worked together since July 2018 to develop a QR code payment app in order to allow citizens of one country to shop in the other using their own currency.

With this app, Cambodians will be able to use riel to purchase goods in Thailand, while Thais travelling Cambodia will be able to pay in baht.

Users of the QR code payment system will be required to have a bank account in the local currency.

The two countries hope to launch the system in mid-2019.

The Cambodian government’s figures showed that there are currently more than one million Cambodian migrant workers in Thailand. Meanwhile, more than 317,000 Thais visited Cambodia in the first 11 months of 2018.

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